Cattermole believes Kompany deliberately tried to injure Cahill, an admission he made in an interview yesterday.

The Sunderland captain, who was defending his own reputation, said: “You see some tackles and you wonder. Look at Kompany on Cahill the other day (during City’s 2-0 win over Everton on September 24 – he just went straight over the ball into someone’s shin. I’ve never done that in my life.

“I’m not a dirty player – I’m just an honest player, but maybe that’s the way football is going at the moment.”